Category Archives: Vintage

The Antique Wine Company is a private wine merchant that was founded in 1982 by Stephen Williams. Headquartered in London, England, the company specializes in exceptional fine and rare wines. It’s known worldwide for its fine wine events and record breaking collections of wines. The company has more than 10,000 bottles of the finest vintages in the world stored in its wine cellars. The company also has more than 20,000 clients spread out over 70 countries around the world. The Antique Wine Company is the company to contact if you the world’s very best wines.

The company provides a wide range of services for wine connoisseurs and people who simply love good wine. The Antique Wine Company handles wine cellar planning, private wine master classes, and the sourcing of rare wine. The driving force behind the company is Stephen Williams. His ability to go and grow from holding wine tastings to building a company specializing in rare vintages valued at millions of pounds is the stuff of legends. The bravery and vision he showed by walking away from his job selling life insurance to pursue his dream of selling the world’s best wines is nothing short of awe inspiring.

Born in Ripley, Derbyshire, this son of a cash register salesman learned to be independent at an early age. His parents separated when he was 10, and his mother struggled mightily to raise Stephen and his younger two siblings. By the age of 14 he had a weekend job so he could help with the expenses of running his home. Tis taught Stephen the discipline and work ethic that would characterize his rise from a man hosting wine tastings to the owner of a company that has done over in excess of £20 million in business annually for several years running.

These days his company sells chateau cabinets with 18 bottles of wine inside for about £149,000 each. One such cabinet, the Château d’Yquem model, is valued at £1m.
In 2006, The Antique Wine Company sold a 135-year vertical collection for $1.5 million. They sold an 1811 Chateau d’Yquem for £75,000. That’s the highest price ever for a single bottle of white wine. Yes Stephen Williams and The Antique Wine Company have come a long way. He has now supplying lucrative markets in Asia and other parts of the world with some of the planet’s finest wines.